


Kiss Your Lips, Heal Your Heart

by jjokkiri



Category: Monsta X (Band)
Genre: ??? sort of, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Domestic Fluff, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff, M/M, Mentions of alcohol, Mild Language, Single Parents, Slice of Life, kindergarten teacher!kihyun, mentions of divorce, single father!hoseok, the rest of mx make brief appearances but they're not that relevant, to a degree i guess, very mild angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-17
Updated: 2016-09-17
Packaged: 2018-08-15 13:27:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,535
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8058145
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jjokkiri/pseuds/jjokkiri
Summary: Shin Hoseok’s seven year old daughter really wants to marry her kindergarten teacher, because he’s the greatest.





	

**Author's Note:**

> as an apology for what happened in my past two works: here, please enjoy 11k+ of super cute dad!hoseok and lowkey domestic!kiho, because i am such trash for this ship.

 

“Yeoreum, will you please sit still for a minute?”

The seven year old girl sitting on the bathroom counter stops squirming long enough for her father to secure her hair in a lopsided pigtail. _Good enough? No._ Shin Hoseok groaned quietly and pulled the hair tie back out, placing a hand on his daughter’s shoulder to keep her still as she began to move around again.

Getting his daughter ready for a day out was always the most stressful part of the day, because Shin Yeoreum is a lot more energetic than he is on a good day, but he supposed that was normal for a tiny girl her age. The only problem is that he can’t actually keep up with her when she gets excited about the silliest things.

“Yeoreum, daddy wants you to sit still and count to twenty, can you do that for him?” Hoseok tries, preparing the hair tie in his hand and the hairbrush in the other.

He could send her off to school with her hair down, but seeing as it’s only the registration date and she wouldn’t actually be learning anything today, he knows that while he’s signing all the necessary forms to enroll his seven year old daughter into the school, she’ll have paint in it before the first hour was over. Washing paint out of her hair was far from fun.

“Yes, daddy,” comes the response from the little girl and she actually sits still for the twenty count that she yells loudly. “One, two——”

And that’s the cue to work quickly, because Hoseok knows that once he’s used the trick a single time, then there wasn’t a chance that he was going to be able to do it again (because that means that she’d start asking questions as to why he was making her count so much, and he’d never hear the end of it——he’s made the mistake once). He’s making the last loop on the first pigtail when his daughter speaks up again with bright eyes shining in confusion.

“Daddy, what comes after eleven?”

Hoseok takes his sweet time to answer her, buying himself more time to brush out her hair, “Twelve, sweetheart.”

She repeats after him and Hoseok twists the small lock of hair into its position on her head, tying it up. His struggle comes to a close as soon as she makes it to twenty and he puts the hairbrush down, proud of himself even though this happens almost every single day of the week. Yeoreum stands up on the counter and Hoseok opens his arms and the girl jumps into his arms before he sets her down on the ground and she rushes to her bedroom.  

He has an outfit set out on the bed for her and her eyes brighten upon seeing it. It’s another stressful few moments of getting his daughter dressed before they’re ready to leave the house. Hoseok has to take a moment to step back and admire his skill of picking out the cutest outfits for his daughter, because when she’s standing in a baby blue shirt and tiny overalls, he’s pretty sure his daughter was entirely capable of winning some sort of child cuteness pageant.

It’s a bright summer morning and Yeoreum looks entirely too excited to leave their apartment. Hoseok grabs his keys, before holding out his hand to her——it’s protocol: Hoseok holds his hand out and his daughter runs towards him and holds his hand (or at least however many of his fingers she can grasp onto, because her hands are too small to actually hold onto his hand) before they leave their home, because _‘it’s not safe to walk around alone!’_

But, as soon as they’re on the street, Yeoreum is bouncing on her feet and her pigtails are probably going to end up lopsided before they can even make it to the school that he’s taking her to, but it wasn’t really like she actually cared. She was a child and her greatest priority was fun, and if running down the sidewalks was her definition of fun then Hoseok wasn’t going to stop her.

“Yeoreum, watch your step, please,” Hoseok calls after her, “If you fall, you’re going to hurt yourself and cry. What happens when Yeoreum cries?”

The girl immediately stops running and slows to a quick-paced walk in front of her father, “Daddy is sad when Yeoreum cries. And Yeoreum doesn’t like it when daddy is sad.”

Hoseok’s lips curl into a small smile, “Good.”

 

 

 

When they make it to the school, Hoseok has Yeoreum sitting atop his shoulders and her tiny hands are buried in his blond locks of hair——he’s been told that he looks nothing like a responsible father, because of his hair colour and his piercings, and as much as it crushes him to hear: he knows that he proves them wrong whenever Yeoreum’s eyes brighten and she bursts into screams of laughter and tells him that she loves him the most.

It isn’t his fault that he’s raising his daughter alone (because he doesn’t know how much of the fault is actually his, if one day his wife just up and left him for another man). And he doesn’t think it’s a fault to look the way he does. But, the public seemed to judge him for looking like he was still a teenager, because what twenty-nine year old man with a growing daughter actually sports platinum locks instead of his natural hair colour. He’s been blond for years and Yeoreum insists that it’s easier to find him when he’s picking her up from school, when he stands out from the crowd.

He’s grateful for his daughter, because she’s an angel.

Sometimes, he sounds bitter when he talks about how raising his daughter alone ever came to be, but Hoseok loves her more than anything in the world. She’s his everything——like how every father should feel towards their children. And if anyone ever asked him if he resented his ex-wife for leaving him for another man, then he doesn’t think he would ever say that he did. Sure, it hurt to deal with losing your wife to someone else, but five years later, he’s alright with it: because when she turned and walked away from them, she left him with the most beautiful baby girl.

Society might make assumptions about him, but as long as his daughter is happy, then Hoseok doesn’t think that anything else really matters too much.

The person at the front desk smiles at him when he walks through the doors and he doesn’t see any other children around the room, so he assumes that he’s significantly early in arriving at the school. Hoseok gently puts Yeoreum back onto the floor and her pigtails bounce as she turns to look at him with a bright smile——there are toys all over the floor and he knows his daughter is eyeing them, because of course she is.

“Can I play with the toys?” Yeoreum’s hands are tiny as she puts them on the edge of the desk and she’s on her tiptoes, trying to peer over the desk to look at the person behind it.

“Of course you can, sweetie,” the other man tells her and she turns to look at her father, hopefully. He nods slightly and she’s immediately running off to play with the scattered toys. While the girl is occupied, the man smiles at Hoseok, “How may I help you today?”

“I’m registering for my daughter to enroll?” it sounds more like a question than a statement, because this is the third school he’s had to register her for, because Yeoreum cried every time she came home from school. The teachers were apparently mean to her, and Hoseok’s heart couldn’t take it. He’s hoping the third time's the charm, because he’s running out of people to ask for recommendations of schools for.

Yeoreum started school a year late, because the finalization for the divorce hadn't gone through immediately and it took time, which took a severe toll on Hoseok, eventually resulting in missing the deadlines for registration. It makes Yeoreum a year older than most of the children in her class and for some reason, it also means that she doesn't make very many friends.

These are the things that make Hoseok feel like he could be a much better father to the sunshine in his life.

“Oh, yes of course!” the man says and he reaches underneath the desk to grab a couple sheets of paper and hands Hoseok a pen, “Here. I’m Minhyuk, or Mr. Lee, and I’m one of the scary office people that your daughter isn’t going to want to see often, because it means she’s in trouble!”

He sounds entirely too happy to declare his position and Hoseok doesn’t really know what to say, because Minhyuk looks terribly harmless——but, Hoseok knows better than to judge people by their outer appearance, so he doesn’t say anything and just offers an awkward smile. Minhyuk doesn’t look pleased with the reaction, so he sighs and scoots closer to Hoseok in his chair (Hoseok's only partially sorry to be such a joy kill), “So, we’re just going to need all her information and the information of both parents,” Minhyuk explained.

Hoseok cleared his throat, awkward as ever, “Both parents?”

Minhyuk blinked at the request for clarification, before a look of realization dawns on him, “We ask for at least one legal guardian, which I’m going to be assuming is you, and the other can be someone that you trust to pick her up from school, or something like that. It’s like an emergency contact if we can’t get in contact with you if something happens to her,” he told him. “If you don’t fill it out, we’re obligated to keep her at the school until we can get into contact with you. Or send her to the police department down the street, until we can get into contact with you. And we really don't like doing that.”

“The rest is just basic information, right?” Hoseok asked.

Minhyuk nodded and he smiled, “You can just ask me if you need anything.”

The blond nodded and leaned over the desk, filling out the papers for his daughter. He ponders over the information for a while, eyes trained on the section regarding emergency contacts. With a glance to Yeoreum, Hoseok’s mind scans though the potential people he could probably list as an emergency contact, before he settles on their neighbour, Lim Changkyun——a university student whom Yeoreum happens to love almost as much as she loves Hoseok. He doesn’t think Changkyun would necessarily mind picking Yeoreum up from school, in the case that anything _did_ happen, considering the little girl’s intent to marry him when she grows up and the fact that he's done it a few times before.

Minhyuk looks over the papers when he hands them back, making sure he’s signed them correctly before he stamps the date on it and signs his name under the administrative section of the documents. “Do you want to speak to her teacher?”

Hoseok doesn’t really know what he has to say, but he supposed getting to know her teacher wouldn’t be bad. He’d be getting to know the person she sees almost as often as she sees him, and he decides it’s important: “Yeah, could I?”

“If he’s in his classroom, of course you can!”

Minhyuk makes a call from where he’s sitting on the office phone and Hoseok turns to look at his daughter and fidgets as he waits, because he has nothing to do with his hands. He doesn’t notice Minhyuk finishing his phone call, but when the other man calls his daughter’s name, then his attention is certainly captured.

“Yeoreum,” Minhyuk called, after studying her name and the little girl looks up from where she’s playing with a bunch of blocks. “Do you want to go meet your teacher?”

Bouncing to her feet, Yeoreum nodded and ran over to where they stood, nearly stumbling but Hoseok instinctively catches her before anything happens. Minhyuk smiles at them before Hoseok picks the girl up, “Come with me.”

 

 

 

The classroom is filled with even more toys than the office was and Hoseok absently wonders how much teaching happens in a classroom where all the chairs are bright coloured beanbags and the desks are all grouped in fours together to form a cute cartoon character——but at the same time, Hoseok is wishing that he had a classroom like this, when he was Yeoreum’s age.

Minhyuk leaves them alone when they make it to the classroom and Hoseok is sitting on a red beanbag with his daughter in his lap, waiting. They’re playing a clapping game, because Yeoreum loves them and Hoseok is in the middle of screwing up his hand patterns and being scolded by his seven year old daughter when a man walks into the classroom, looking entirely too amused to be witnessing a little girl yelling at a full-grown man.

He looks a little too young to be a teacher, but Hoseok refrains from commenting. He has a mess of a medium shade of brown hair atop his head and Hoseok has to take a moment to scan the man’s features and he thinks that he’s kind of cute. Not that he should really be checking out his daughter’s teacher, because that’s the most inappropriate thing he’s done since his first year of university, when he’d finished an entire handle of vodka to himself and committed to things he doesn’t even remember.

“Good morning,” he greets and Hoseok takes note of how soft his voice sounds. Yeoreum is a lot faster than he is at greeting people and she practically bounces out of Hoseok’s lap with a cheerful greeting of _‘good morning!’_

“Hi,” Hoseok manages and the other man smiles.

“Hello, you’re Hoseok, yes?” the man says and Hoseok hesitates, because he's never heard his name spoken with so much care. The man seems to backtrack on his words, but keeps his smile up, “Am I allowed to call you that, or will Mr. Shin do?”

“Hoseok is fine,” the blond answers quickly and Yeoreum looks a little amazed at their exchange of conversation. Hoseok is a little confused until he remembers that Yeoreum always looks amazed when Hoseok says his own name, because he so often refers to himself as _‘daddy’_ to her.

It’s kind of really cute.

“I’m Kihyun,” the man says, before bending to Yeoreum’s height and smiling, “You must be Yeoreum! You’re so cute. You can call me Mr. Yoo, okay?”

She’s clearly happy with the compliment (Hoseok _knows_ she’s cute) and nods obediently and salutes him with a hand to her forehead and Hoseok thinks it’s the cutest thing in the world. Kihyun smiles, “I’m going to talk to your daddy for a bit so you can go play with the toys, if you want to, okay Yeoreum?”

The girl happily runs off towards the toys, but not before Hoseok warns her about being careful with what she does. Kihyun waits patiently for Hoseok’s attention to return to him. When it does, Hoseok silently hates himself for not acting his age, because he can’t find his words. Kihyun kind of gets it and he starts the conversation for them.

“You look really young,” Hoseok says, stupidly and Kihyun laughs and it’s really just a musical sound.

“I’m twenty-seven. A lot of parents want to speak to their children’s teachers,” Kihyun started, “Is it okay for me to assume that you have something to ask of me for her?”

“Yeah,” Hoseok drifted off and cleared his throat, “I don’t mean to make it sound like I don’t trust you as a teacher or something, because I’m sure you’re more than capable at what you do, but this is the third school I’ve enrolled her in and she has a little bit of a hard time making friends...”

Hoseok doesn’t really know how to continue his statement, but Kihyun smiles again and Hoseok just loses all ability to speak.

“I’ll be her first friend here, then!”

 

 

 

Hoseok finds out that Kihyun really meant it when he said that he’d be Yeoreum’s first friend when the little girl comes home from school, after Changkyun picks her up, looking extremely excited to tell Hoseok something. He’d been unable to pick her up from school because he was trapped in a meeting, but he’s making dinner, still dressed in his work clothes even though his tie is loosened around his neck.

“Daddy!” Yeoreum screams, happily and throws her small arms around Hoseok’s leg.

Changkyun is following behind her with an amused smile.

“Hi, baby,” Hoseok greeted with a sweet smile to his daughter and the girl is bouncing on her feet, happily. The blond pulled his attention away from Yeoreum for a moment and he eyed his neighbour. “Why are you smiling like that?”

“Ask her,” Changkyun replied.

Yeoreum doesn’t even wait for Hoseok to say anything to her and she beams, “Daddy! When I grow up, I want to marry Mr. Yoo!”

Hoseok nearly chokes on his spit, “I thought you said you wanted to marry your Changkyun oppa?”

The little girl regarded Changkyun with a quiet stare, for a brief moment, before she looks back to her father, “Changkyun oppa and I... We broke up, so now I’m going to marry Mr. Yoo.”

Changkyun, standing behind her, looks like he might die of laughter and Hoseok is pretty sure that he’s the one who taught her how to say that, because there’s no way the shows that Yeoreum watches teaches her that.

 

 

 

The next week, when Hoseok isn't trapped in a meeting room and can pick his daughter up from school again, her eyes are bright and cheerful when she runs towards him in her pink dress and Hoseok easily picks her up and lifts her in the air. She's the last student to leave the classroom, almost always is because she takes her time to gather her things (it's something she picked up from watching Hoseok walk around their apartment to make sure he doesn't forget anything), so Kihyun follows her towards Hoseok with a smile, because he has to close the school gates.

They stand and talk by the school gates about the day and Kihyun asks him about his work. He tells Kihyun about the amount of stress that exists in working a nine-to-five office job (and the perks of being the boss’ favourite so he's allowed to get off early, sometimes) and Kihyun tells him about the painting that Yeoreum is making in class. It's all small talk until Yeoreum falls asleep in her father's arms with her head on Hoseok's shoulder.

There's mischief in Kihyun's eyes when Hoseok looks up at him and tells him that Yeoreum is asleep.

“So, have you heard that your daughter wants to marry me when she grows up?” Kihyun asks, teasingly and his eyes reflect the light of the afternoon sun.

Hoseok chuckles quietly and shakes his head, “Did she tell you herself?”

“She did,” Kihyun smiles, “She proposed to me with her ring pop. I told her that her father might get sad, if she gives me her ring pop that you packed in her lunch for her. She’s so cute, like her father, I guess.”

For half a beat, Hoseok pauses.

He thinks that Kihyun might be flirting with him, but he isn't sure how likely his daughter’s teacher flirting with him is. He also isn't sure how safe it is to assume that Kihyun likes men, because it's just an absent remark, maybe. If Kihyun really is flirting with him: he doesn't think he really minds, but if he's reading the signs wrong, then it’d be awkward.

Hoseok fixes his tie with his free hand and flashes a charming smile.

“I think I’d be upset if she proposed to someone else with that ring pop.” Hoseok replies, with his eyes on Kihyun's visage.

The teacher arches an eyebrow and hums, “What's that supposed to mean?”

Hoseok laughs, “My daughter has good taste.”

Kihyun's expression is overtaken with surprise before he's laughing. It's a bright sound, complete with his head tilted slightly and Hoseok notices these cute dimples beneath his eyes when he laughs. It doesn't take much convincing for him to decide that he quite likes it. Kihyun's smile is even prettier when there's the cast of light on his visage from the setting sun.

“Does her father have good taste, too?” Kihyun teases, there's an amused glint in his eyes and Hoseok thinks that maybe Kihyun really _is_ flirting with him. The platinum haired man smiles softly.

“Maybe he does.”

 

 

 

Yeoreum forgets to tell Hoseok that she's only going to be at school for half a day, because it's some sort of holiday that Hoseok doesn't ever remember having when he was younger. Hoseok is working a full shift on that day, because business is ridiculous and they need all hands on deck to complete the projects on time, when Kihyun calls him on his cell phone with a worried voice.

“Are you picking up Yeoreum today?” he asks and Hoseok looks at his watch.

“It's only one o’clock,” Hoseok answers and he can hear the frown in Kihyun's voice.

“Yes, but school only runs for half a day for Yeoreum today,” Kihyun tells him, “I sent home a notice, last week. All the other kids have gone home. Did you not have the time to read it?”

“No, I——” Hoseok looks between his stack of work and the phone and clenches his teeth. He suddenly feels like the worst parent in the world. He knows that Changkyun is currently in class and won't be out until much later than he gets off work, so he can't exactly ask him to pick his daughter up. But he has no one else to ask.

Kihyun seems to sense his struggle and he exhales softly, “What time will you finish work at, Hoseok?”

The blond swallowed, “At five.”

“Listen, Hoseok,” Kihyun says, “Yeoreum doesn't hate me, so I can watch over her until you finish work, okay? Do you want to talk to Yeoreum? I’ll give her the phone.”

Kihyun doesn’t actually wait for him to give an answer, because Yeoreum’s bright voice is immediately on the other line, “Daddy! Daddy, Yeoreum forgot to tell you! But, don’t worry, okay daddy? Mr. Yoo says I can stay with him until you come pick me up! Don’t be sad, okay daddy?”

Hoseok suddenly hates himself for having such a mature daughter, because had it been any other child, he’s pretty sure that they would have burst into tears upon hearing that their parent wasn’t going to be picking them up and they’d have to stay with their teacher. He’s pretty sure that she was forced to grow up, when he couldn’t properly cope with his wife leaving them and as much as he tried to hide it from her, he’s so sorry that she had to see that he was hurting. She was a child and he shouldn’t be letting her know that he was so _sad_ , and letting it affect her childhood.

“Yeoreum, baby, be good,” he manages to say, “Daddy’s sorry.”

“Don’t be sorry, daddy! I forgot to show you Mr. Yoo’s letter!” she sounds entirely too happy to be staying with Kihyun, but Hoseok can’t quite fight the guilt that practically eats him alive.

The twenty-nine year old buried his fingers into his hair and exhaled softly, “I’ll see you later, baby.”

“Bye, daddy!”

Yeoreum hangs up first and Hoseok smashes his head onto the desk. He hates being a burden to others, but this now involved Yeoreum and he hated to think about the possibility of someone thinking that his daughter was a burden to them. His co-workers turned to look at him and he straightened himself out, trying to focus on typing the rest of the document. It's difficult.

When he's finally let off of work, Hoseok practically runs to his car and starts the engine to make his way to the school. He doesn't want to keep Kihyun for much longer than he has to, because Yeoreum had spent the entire day with her teacher and Hoseok knows that Kihyun has better things to do.

It's when he steps into the silent halls and into the classroom that he's greeted with an adorable image that he doesn't think will ever leave his mind. Yeoreum is sitting in Kihyun's lap, asleep with her head rested on his shoulder and Kihyun's head leans gently against hers. They're both sound asleep and the light from the window casts an almost angelic glow to the both of them. Hoseok almost wants to take a photo and keep it forever.

Hoseok half-fumbles for his phone and snaps a quick photo, shoving it back into his pocket. He'd admire the photo, later.

As if sensing a presence, though, Kihyun awakens slowly and his eyes flutter open, focusing onto Hoseok and his lips curl into a small smile, “Oh, you're here.”

Yeoreum is still fast asleep in his lap and Hoseok thinks that he might just have to carry her back to the car. Guilt floods him again and the twenty-nine year old quickly opened his mouth to apologize, but then Kihyun is shaking his head and already interrupting him.

“Hoseok, don't apologize,” Kihyun starts, because somewhere in between fleeting meetings while he picked up Yeoreum, it seems that Hoseok has spilled quite a bit of his life story to Kihyun, “I know I'm not her babysitter, but I get it: you're a single father and sometimes things don't work out like they should and other things slip your mind. It's okay. It's nothing you should apologize for,” Kihyun smiles lightly, “It'd be nice if you could spare some time to read her agenda every night, but it's okay to forget. I tell Yeoreum this all the time: _if you need help, don't hesitate to ask for it_. I'm starting to think I should start telling you that.”

Hoseok has the decency to flush in slight embarrassment, because Kihyun effectively shuts him up and he nods quietly.

Kihyun carefully wraps his arms around the tiny girl and picks her up, gently handing her over to her father and Hoseok sighs as he takes her into his arms, “I just don't know how to thank you enough. I mean, you stayed after work for four hours to wait for me to come pick her up.”

“It's really nothing, Hoseok. I promise. We made Minhyuk run and get us some ice cream,” Kihyun's eyes soften a little, “There are perks. It's always fun to spend time with Yeoreum. And, I mean, I got to see you, too.”

Hoseok thinks he's imagining the twinkle in Kihyun's eyes and those last words, because there's no way Kihyun really said that. Or at least, there's no way Kihyun means it in the way that Hoseok initially interprets it as.

He ends up smiling, “Thank you, Kihyun. Really, I appreciate it so much.”

 

 

 

Yeoreum is drawing a picture of something at the dinner table and she holds her crayons with her entire hand. Hoseok is cutting up some fruits for her to snack on while she draws, when the little girl speaks up.

“Daddy,” she says. Hoseok hums softly in response, letting her know he’s listening, “Are you lonely?”

He doesn’t know where she learned the word, but he turns to look at her, surprised, “Lonely?”

“Yeah, like... sad because mommy isn’t here anymore,” Yeoreum adds and that takes Hoseok by complete shock, “My friend said that his daddy left him and his mommy and his mommy is always really sad and _lonely_ ——he says that his mommy is looking for someone to be his new daddy and make her feel _less lonely_ and I don’t know what that means——”

He doesn’t really hear the rest of his daughter’s explanation, because his mind is being transported back to a time when he and his wife were still together and _happy_. It’s hard to picture, now but the three year old wounds burn as if they’re still fresh. Hoseok takes a breath, before Yeoreum’s voice breaks through the air, loudly.

“Daddy, be careful! You’re hurt!”

Hoseok looks down to see that the knife had sliced into his finger and he’s bleeding. _Shit._

Yeoreum runs to her room and fixes Hoseok’s bleeding finger with a bright pink Disney Princess band-aid, telling him that it fixes everything and makes it all better. Hoseok just wishes that he could put a band-aid across his heart and heal everything like that, because just because it has past, didn’t mean that it didn’t hurt.

“Don’t worry, baby,” he whispers into her hair, thanking her for the band-aid and squeezing her into a gentle hug, “Daddy’s okay.”

The seven year old held out her pinky and she has a frown on her face, “Daddy, you have to promise me that if you’re ever sad and lonely that you’ll find a new mommy, so you won't be lonely! I think it’s... like a band-aid.”

Hoseok knows she has no idea what she’s talking about, but he knows that his curious daughter never stops asking about things she doesn’t understand until she finally does, so he sighs and interlocks his finger with hers, “Daddy just needs you and daddy’s happy.”

“Daddy, promise. I won’t be mad, if you do!” Yeoreum presses and Hoseok sighs and ruffles her hair, presses a kiss to her forehead.

_“I promise.”_

 

 

 

“Daddy, can Mr. Yoo come over for dinner tonight?” Yeoreum has bright anticipating eyes as she holds onto her teacher's hand. Her other hand is in Hoseok's, but she's refusing to let go of Kihyun's hand.

It's a week after that one day which Kihyun had stayed after work to watch over the Hoseok’s daughter for him, and Hoseok really thinks that he owes Kihyun. Maybe not with inviting him over for dinner on a random day in which Hoseok didn't even know what he was going to make for dinner. The blond fixes his tie awkwardly, not really knowing what to do.

So, Hoseok stares at his daughter, and after a beat of silence, says firmly, “Yeoreum, Mr. Yoo has other things to do. You can't just invite people over like that.”

Yeoreum looks like she might cry, but Hoseok is insistent with his answer that Yeoreum understands as _‘no'_ , “But, daddy, you said it would be nice if...”

And he wasn't about to let his daughter expose him about that one day a week ago when he told her, absently, that Kihyun was lovely and it’d be nice to have a meal with him someday. That someday did _not_ mean now, but what was a seven year old girl to really know?

“No buts, Yeoreum,” Hoseok reprimands gently and the girl lets go of her father's hand, pouting angrily. She's never been spoiled, but she has an attitude and Hoseok really thinks she got it from her mother, because he certainly didn't act like that.

But, Yeoreum knows the consequences of acting up: if she was willing to give up a week's worth of television time and snacks, then she was really intent on what she wanted. Hoseok has only ever had to implement that rule once, when Yeoreum refused to go to bed, and it's taught her a lesson.

 _“Shin Yeoreum,”_ Hoseok starts, tone rising and Yeoreum turns her head away, her long ponytail dramatically flipping with how quickly she turns her head.

Watching the exchange, Kihyun raises his hand to speak and he sounds a little timid. “I... wouldn't mind if it made her happy and you're okay with it, actually,” Kihyun says and Hoseok looks to him in surprise. “I don't have anything to do for the rest of the night.”

Yeoreum immediately brightens and Hoseok really thinks that Kihyun is going to end up spoiling her, if Hoseok doesn't. The twenty-nine year old pressed his lips together in a thin line and Yeoreum’s tiny hand touches his.

“Daddy, _pretty please with a strawberry on top because you don't like cherries?_ ” Yeoreum presses and Hoseok can feel his resolve breaking.

With a suffering sigh, Hoseok nods, “Fine.” His eyes flicker to Kihyun, “I can give you a ride, if you don't need to get anything?”

Kihyun shakes his head and smiles, “I'll have to head home and drop off my things. You can give me your address, so I don't have to look it up, though.”

And Kihyun looks so content with Yeoreum’s happiness that Hoseok can't find it in himself to be irritated at either of them.

His daughter is entirely too cute and well, Kihyun is kind of really cute, too.

 

 

 

Kihyun shows up at their apartment door at a quarter to five, just enough time for Hoseok to have given his daughter a bath, but not enough time for Hoseok himself to have stepped into the shower while Yeoreum was watching a cartoon. He knocks gently and had the living room where Yeoreum was enchanted by her cartoon not been near the door, he might not have heard it.

“Daddy, someone's at the door!” she yells to him and Hoseok finds his way to the door, his sleeves rolled up to his elbows and his tie has been discarded somewhere in his bedroom. His hair's a mess when he opens the door, but he doesn't know why he actually cares.

“Hi,” Kihyun greets softly and it's the first time Hoseok sees him out of his teacher clothes: collared shirt and slacks. Kihyun is dressed in what looks like a really comfortable cardigan and jeans. He looks undeniably cute and Hoseok finds himself staring for a brief moment.

“Hey,” he cleared his throat and stepped aside, “Please come in.”

Kihyun offers him a sweet smile before he steps into the apartment and carefully takes his shoes off. Hoseok awkwardly lingers by his side, not really knowing what to say. _What were you supposed to say when your daughter invites her teacher over?_

It isn't that they don't talk: it definitely isn't that, because when they talk they easily crack jokes and laugh at the things the other says. It's just a little different having small talk when picking up your daughter as compared to actually having your daughter’s apparent _husband-to-be_ (read: just, teacher) in your home. It's also another very different factor to think that your daughter's teacher is pretty cute. Or well, _very_ cute.

Yeoreum is peeking at them from the wall and she's just barely hidden.

“Mr. Yoo!” she screams happily and runs towards him, tackling his leg into a tight hug (because Kihyun isn't that much shorter than Hoseok and Yeoreum is tiny, anyway).

“Good evening, Yeoreum!” Kihyun greets with a happy tone.

It's all cute and all until Hoseok suddenly smells something burning and he dashes to the kitchen, swearing quietly under his breath. Yeoreum hears him and shouts, _“Daddy, no bad words!”_ (and he makes a mental note to kill that habit a little harder——because he’s been trying to stop his swearing habit since his daughter came into this world, seven years ago), before Kihyun is following him into the kitchen.

Kihyun’s hands move quickly and he shuts off the stove, transferring the burnt scraps to a plate to cool before he can throw them away. Hoseok kind of feels useless, when Kihyun takes over his job. But, Kihyun's certainly more efficient than he is. The blond clears his throat and Kihyun's just settling the pan back onto the stove, clear of any burnt pieces and he's fanning the scent away.

“Sorry, it's a habit,” Kihyun explains, withdrawing his hands from everything, “Minhyuk can't cook, so this happens a lot.”

“No, it's okay,” Hoseok starts, dumbly, “I'm just... _wow, you move so fast_.”

Kihyun flashes a small smile at him, and they stand there silently for a moment. Hoseok can hear Yeoreum’s television show chanting something about the colours of the rainbow, but he's focused on Kihyun, in awe. The twenty-nine year old scratches the back of his neck after another few seconds of staring into one another's eyes, “... I have no idea what to make for dinner, now.”

The younger laughs softly and takes a step towards him, “Well, can I help now that I'm here?”

Hoseok blinks at him and Kihyun takes the brave move of grabbing onto his wrist and tugging him over to the fridge. And suddenly, his heartbeat is a little quicker than usual.

“Can we take a look at what's in your fridge?” Hoseok nods dumbly at Kihyun's inquiry, because there's a smile on Kihyun’s face and it's close to the cutest thing Hoseok's ever seen. Kihyun is listing off a bunch of different dishes, but Hoseok is kind of watching his mouth move and not listening to a single word.

“... and of course, rice.” It's all Hoseok hears and he looks at Kihyun.

“Rice,” he repeats, trying to sound like he agrees entirely and the smaller man arches an eyebrow.

“You weren't listening to a single word I said,” Kihyun accuses and Hoseok has half a mind to tell him that it's kind of impossible to listen to him when he's still holding onto Hoseok's wrist, and his hands are so soft and warm and it's _very_ distracting. But, he doesn't want to sound like a creep.

“... No... I wasn't...” Hoseok confirms, sheepishly and Kihyun sighs softly, letting go of Hoseok’s wrist (and _oh, Hoseok can breathe again_ ).

“How about I just make dinner and you go shower, and then we can all eat together when you're done?” Kihyun proposes.

Hoseok makes to decline, because there's no way he's letting a guest cook in his home, but Kihyun gives him a meaningful look that clearly leaves no room for argument. Hoseok feels like he's five again, being scolded by his kindergarten teacher, when he backs off and nods quietly, agreeing with Kihyun.

 

 

 

“For Heaven's sake, Kihyun! You're not my housekeeper,” Hoseok cries, when Kihyun takes dirty dishes into his hands and begins to wash them under the soapy water, after they've all finished their meals.

Yeoreum giggles with bliss at her father and teacher fighting over washing the dishes, before she bounces out of her seat and heads to the washroom to wash her hands (because Hoseok doesn't let her touch the remote control until she's finished her meal and washed her hands).

“Hoseok, just let me wash the dishes,” Kihyun exhales, “I've already got my hands wet and you just took a shower. You're going to get your hands all dirty again.”

“Kihyun, you're a _guest_ ,” Hoseok presses and he nudges the younger man to the side. Kihyun pushes him back with his side and inches Hoseok away from the sink.

“I don't care,” he declares and Hoseok hasn't met anyone so intent on washing the dishes in his life. Ever.

It's more pushing and shoving and they're acting like they're both younger than Yeoreum, until Hoseok has Kihyun pinned to the sink with both of his hands on either side of the younger man. It's terribly suggestive for a fight about who was going to wash the dishes and they're both breathing heavily——Hoseok can feel Kihyun’s breath fanning across his cheek, because they're that close together.

There's a splatter of soap bubbles on Kihyun's cheek, just a little to the left of his mouth and Hoseok's finger instinctively moves to brush it away. Kihyun visibly holds his breath.

“Hoseok, please don't get my hopes up,” Kihyun breathes softly, it’s so quiet that it's hardly a whisper.

He doesn't know what Kihyun is talking about, but it strikes a nerve in him to know that Kihyun probably means that he needs the distance between them and the blond is _too_ close to his comfort zone. But, it would be surprising if Kihyun weren't at discomfort with their bodies practically pressed against one another. Hoseok immediately withdraws his hand and takes a step back, looking guilty.

“Sorry,” he murmured. There’s a storm of confusion feelings twisting in the pit of his stomach and Hoseok can’t quite grasp what it means, but just _maybe_ his heart is beating a little too quickly in his chest.

Hoseok lets Kihyun wash the dishes afterwards and he offers to drive Kihyun home, later that night when Yeoreum is done drawing pictures with him, but Kihyun shakes his head, declining and smiles softly.

It doesn't quite reach his eyes, but Hoseok pretends he doesn't notice.

 

 

 

It seems that Hoseok is terrible at playing pretend, and Yeoreum has told him a million times that when he's playing pretend with her that he kind of really sucks at it. This is a different kind of play pretend, but he still really sucks at it.

His mind keeps lingering to the night Kihyun came over for dinner and the fake smile Kihyun had flashed him at the end of the night. He spends days thinking about what Kihyun even meant when he was talking about getting his hopes up, because he has no idea.

“Hoseok, you've been staring at that same screen for over ten minutes and it's literally just asking for a digital signature,” his co-worker, Chae Hyungwon (the stellar advisor), says from beside him. The blond jolts quickly out of his thoughts.

“Oh,” he manages and the other man arches an eyebrow.

“You've been extremely spacy for the past few days, man. What's up?”

“I'm just thinking,” Hoseok tells him.

And there's this ongoing gag in the office that Hoseok is always thinking about strange things, because sometimes, he looks off into space and it's almost impossible to get his attention back until someone says his daughter's name. Because Yeoreum always gets his attention above everything else. The office is creative and they like to think that Hoseok is thinking of a plethora of different things: Hyungwon in particular likes to think that Hoseok thinks about cute boys. _All the time._

(And this is all with full knowledge that Hoseok has been married to a woman, but he supposed that he didn't defend his position very well. Mainly because Lee Jooheon, their co-worker, Hoseok's underclassman and good friend in university had declared to the office that _once,_ Hoseok got so hammered at a party that he tried to stick his tongue down his throat——and for the record, _Hoseok would never do that sober_ , no offense to Jooheon.)

“About a boy?” Hyungwon prods, teasingly.

There's no denial to the fact that Hoseok is thinking about Kihyun, because for every second that he isn't thinking about his daughter or work, Kihyun's pretty dimples flash before his eyes and it's _so distracting_ , but he can't get himself to think about anything else.

“... About a boy.” Hoseok confirms after a beat of silence.

The look of surprise of Hyungwon’s face is priceless.

 

 

 

Kihyun doesn’t act any differently in front of him after the entire _‘don’t get my hopes up’_ thing, so Hoseok assumes that he’s just been overthinking it all. Or maybe Kihyun is keeping to his professionalism, because he _is_ Yeoreum’s teacher after all. The blond leaned against the gate, waiting for Kihyun to usher the children out of the classroom and towards their parents. Children run in all different directions towards their parents and Hoseok watches as Kihyun keeps a careful eye on every single one of them.

“Daddy!” Yeoreum is running towards him, her pretty white sundress fluttering in the wind and her hair is French braided neatly on either sides of her head. Hoseok doesn’t remember sending her to school with braids in her hair——hell, he’s good with his hands, but he couldn’t braid that neatly.

As per usual, Hoseok bends his knees and catches his daughter in his arms, lifting her up and she bursts into peals of laughter. It never gets old. “Hi, baby.”

“Hi, daddy! Daddy, look! During break time, Mr. Yoo braided my hair!” Yeoreum announces, happily. _Ah, he should have known_.

“You look very pretty, Yeoreum,” Hoseok tells her and she beams.

“He also braided my friends’ hair! Look, we’re matching princesses!”

Another girl runs over to them, and she’s followed by two other girls and they all have the cutest matching braids and Yeoreum squeals happily. Hoseok manages a smile, because he supposes that Yeoreum has finally made friends.

“Mister, can Yeoreum come play with us for a bit before she goes home?” the first little girl asks Hoseok with adorable puppy eyes. And then in unison, all of the girls clasp their hands together, pleadingly and they pout at him.

It’s entirely unnecessary, but Hoseok’s heart melts a little and he sets his daughter down on the ground, “Yes, she can.”

“Thank you, mister!” the girls all yell and they tug on Yeoreum’s hand and pull her over to the playground.

Hoseok watches with fond eyes, and a quiet voice comes from behind him. It’s Kihyun.

“I told you she’d make friends,” he says and Hoseok turns to look at him.

“I didn’t doubt you for a second,” Hoseok answers and Kihyun laughs softly.

“Liar,” he accuses and Hoseok arches a surprised eyebrow. Kihyun is smiling though and it throws Hoseok back to the hours he was in his office and suffering while thinking about that very smile.

“I’m hardly a liar,” Hoseok tells him and Kihyun nudges him gently with a hand.

The smaller man rolls his eyes, “You’re lucky you’re a cute liar.”

After he speaks, Kihyun turns his attention to the girls playing on the playground. There’s a smile on Hoseok’s lips that he can’t get rid of at the words and his eyes train themselves on Kihyun’s side profile, fondly. He doesn’t really know what gets into him, but he stares until Kihyun notices that he’s still staring——maybe it’s because he couldn’t stop thinking about this man all day at work and it’s all just catching up to him now.

And then there’s a flush of colour on Kihyun’s cheeks, “What?”

“Cute enough to go on a date with, maybe?” Hoseok presses and the colour on the teacher’s cheeks darken.

“Don’t tease me,” he murmured, not meeting Hoseok’s eyes and the blond thinks it’s adorable.

He nudges Kihyun gently with a hand and offers a gentle smile, “I’m serious, Kihyun.”

The brunette pushes his hand away, eyes downcast shyly, “... I'm free next weekend.”

“Friday night?” Hoseok asks and Kihyun nods quietly. Yeoreum is running back over to them because her friends have all dispersed and returned to their parents. He picks Yeoreum up and Hoseok flashes a cheeky smile at Kihyun and a wink, “It's a date. I'll text you."

It gives him so much satisfaction to see Kihyun's cheeks blaze a brighter red when he turns to walk away.

 

 

 

Changkyun was entirely too excited to babysit Yeoreum for the sake of Hoseok going on a date, and Yeoreum is thrilled to spend some time with him. It's been quite a while since his piles of schoolwork has allowed for him to play with her. Hoseok feels a little guilty for leaving her, but she insists that Changkyun will take care of her (“Changkyun oppa is the best, daddy! Don’t worry!” she had told him).

With a wicked grin, Changkyun told Yeoreum that her father had something very important to do and she just accepts it, because it's Changkyun and she loves and trusts him. Hoseok is always in awe at that——but of course, he still worries even after all the assurance and all the trust he has in Changkyun, because he’s a father and that’s just what fathers do. They worry. A lot.

So, now Hoseok is dressed nicely and sitting in a restaurant, waiting for Kihyun to arrive. The waitress keeps looking at him because he arrived for his reservation early, but he pretends he doesn't see her. Hoseok hasn't been on a date since he was in his early twenties, because after getting married at twenty-two and then having a kid, there’s really no reason to go on any dates. But, this is _so nerve wracking._

“Sorry, I'm late,” Kihyun breathes, as he rushes in, settles down in his seat across from Hoseok and shrugs his jacket off. His hair is styled and he looks really good, Hoseok notes when they make eye contact.

“You're only later than me,” Hoseok tells him, eyeing the clock because Kihyun is right on time.

“Really?” he sounds impressed with himself and Hoseok has to chuckle a little.

“It's seven on the dot,” Hoseok says and he arches an eyebrow, “I have to say, I’m quite impressed.”

“Wow, I'm never on time for dates,” Kihyun remarks and Hoseok smiles at him.

“Maybe, I'm special.”

There's that adorable smile with the dimples again, “Maybe you are.”

As dinner progresses, Hoseok finds a hundred more reasons to be attracted to Kihyun and he really thinks that this is crazy, because it reminds him of what he felt towards his wife before she left him. And to feel such a way for someone else——he never thought it was possible. But, when you watch someone interact with the light of your life every single day and admire them, then maybe it really is possible. Kihyun has his chin rested in his palm and he’s leaning his elbow against the table as he watches Hoseok with fond eyes——and it makes Hoseok feel these butterflies that he can’t seem to explain.

When they’ve both got their food in front of them and Hoseok is trying to keep himself from drinking too much wine, their topic of conversation changes to something else——something touchier. They’re talking about life before the divorce and Kihyun seemed very hesitant to ask about it, but he brought it up with a quiet inquiry of _‘has it always been just you and Yeoreum?’_

Hoseok sighs and shakes his head in response, taking another sip of his wine, “No. She left us for another man when Yeoreum was four years old.” There’s obvious sadness in his tone and Kihyun looks concerned, hand fidgeting alone as if he doesn’t know what to do with it.

There’s a silence and Kihyun takes a sip of his own drink, “... did you love her?”

“I did,” Hoseok answers and Kihyun’s eyes soften like he understands.

“I’m sorry,” he replies and Hoseok shakes his head.

It’s probably a strange topic for a first date, but Kihyun takes it well. And Hoseok really thinks that these things are so important to talk about, because before they ever throw themselves into something more, they’ve got a basis of understanding for one another. Kihyun is the sweetest and Yeoreum loves him so much. Hoseok doesn’t really think he could have asked for anything different from what he has now. He doesn’t think he could ask for anything _better._

“Don’t be. She left me with the most beautiful little girl and we’re happy,” Hoseok tells him.

This time, Kihyun’s smile is a little awestruck.

“I admire you,” Kihyun tells him and Hoseok looks at him with surprised eyes. “Don’t look so surprised. I really do. I think it’s really incredible that you’ve raised such a lovely little girl... I guess all by yourself. Breakups are hard, but yours is a little more than that, but you keep your head up and everything you do is for your daughter. I can see that in your eyes. You make her your priority over everything and anyone can see that you’re a great father. It’s wonderful.” Kihyun takes a breath, “She talks about you all the time, you know, in class. We talked about heroes in class one day and she went on and on about how you were hers——and every child does that, but she talks like she’s so proud of you; kind of like how you’re so proud of her. I really think that’s something to admire, Hoseok. You’re literally amazing.”

Hoseok blinks, “... wow.”

It takes a moment for all of it to sink in——every word that Kihyun says, because Hoseok is so used to having people look down on him for not _looking_ like a father upon the first impression. Kihyun admires him for every one of his little insecurities while he singlehandedly raises a child. It isn’t anything he expects from anyone and Kihyun keeps blowing him away——one thing after another. He thinks this man might be so much more captivating than he’d initially thought.

Kihyun certainly knows what to say, but with a look into his eyes, Hoseok knows that he’s sincere——and an absent part of his mind thinks that if he were to fall in love with this man, it might be fatal.

(But, if he falls in love with Kihyun, then he’s doing it with his eyes wide open and he’s fully conscious of everything he’s doing——not falling, but rather walking right into it.)

“Did I go a little overboard?” Kihyun asks, quietly and his eyes are wide and curious. Hoseok doesn’t know what to do.

“No, I’m just—— I’m flattered,” he replies and Kihyun beams at him. “Thank you. I have so much I want to say to you, too but——”

“Save your breath,” Kihyun tells him with a playful wink, and before Hoseok can ask him what he means (because Hoseok’s mind is trailing a million degrees of _this is probably not what Kihyun is thinking, but I’m thinking about it anyway_ ), the waiter appears beside them and asks if they’d like refills on their glasses of wine. Kihyun kindly declines and Hoseok mimics it.

When they leave, Hoseok offers to walk Kihyun home and he gives him his jacket when they’re halfway to Kihyun’s place. Kihyun bids him a goodnight with a hesitant kiss to his cheek and he tells him that Yeoreum is probably waiting for him at home, so he should hurry back.

Hoseok walks back to his apartment with his head in the clouds.

(Yeoreum is already in bed and Changkyun is watching over her, when Hoseok gets home. The university student gives him these teasing eyes and tells him that he’d taken Yeoreum for ice cream, then recaps the day before returning to his own apartment. He spares Hoseok from having to tell him all about his night, but he knows that as soon as Changkyun has an assignment in his creative writing class that he’ll beg Hoseok to tell him all about it.)

 

 

 

At some point, a couple weeks later, Yeoreum takes it upon herself to invite Kihyun over for dinner again and Hoseok is shaking with laughter, because he doesn’t know where his daughter got her boldness from. He’s never seen anyone invite someone over for dinner by saying _“Mr. Yoo, you should come over and have dinner with me and daddy, because we miss you”_ before and he kind of hopes it never happens again——because he’s a little embarrassed. It’s especially because Kihyun raises curious brows at him and then smiles at Yeoreum, telling her that he’ll be sure to drop by.

She’s ecstatic and every step home has her bouncing happily on her feet and it’s so cute. Hoseok kind of feels like there’s this bubbling excitement in the pit of his stomach that’s most likely because Kihyun is coming over——but it’s being highly fueled by the fact that his kid is the cutest thing to ever walk this planet.

Hoseok just picks her up and squeezes his adorable daughter into a tight hug and she squeals with laughter. They earn a couple stares from some of the people who live in their apartment complex, but Hoseok hardly cares.

“Daddy, you’re really happy today,” Yeoreum declares as she steps into their apartment with curious eyes.

He laughs and kisses her forehead, “Yes, baby. I am.”

“I'm happy that you're happy, daddy.”

Hoseok swears he melts a little.

 

 

 

This time, when Kihyun comes over for dinner, Hoseok actually has everything under control and he isn't about to burn his apartment down. He opens the door for the younger man with a small smile on his lips and Yeoreum quickly attaches herself to Kihyun’s leg again. Hoseok is only a little bit surprised that Yeoreum manages to keep her hands and feet to herself during school hours. Or maybe there's just something Kihyun isn't telling Hoseok about.

“Smells good,” Kihyun tells him and peers over his shoulder when they're back in the kitchen.

“I promise you I'm a great cook,” Hoseok says and Kihyun jabs him in the side with playful fingers. He doesn't know when they got so touchy, but he really doesn't mind it at all. “I mean it!”

“I believe you.”

Yeoreum is setting the table with utensils and pieces of paper. She’s entirely too focused on it and she's trying to perfectly position the napkins and chopsticks beside the plate. Neither Kihyun nor Hoseok really have the heart to tell her that it's still crooked, once she's satisfied with her work.

When Hoseok transfers the fried rice onto the plates, there's a significant amount left and Yeoreum stares at him quietly, “Can I go ask Changkyun oppa if he wants some?”

Kihyun turns to look at Hoseok a little puzzled. “Our neighbour. Yeoreum’s best friend,” Hoseok says, “And yes, baby, go ahead.”

Hoseok only lets Yeoreum leave the apartment on her own when she's headed to Changkyun's place because there's literally nowhere that she could end up being lost at. Anywhere else meant that Hoseok needed to watch over the little angel.

Yeoreum runs down the hallway and screeches Changkyun’s name. There's a sound _thud_ from the other side of the wall and Hoseok bites back a laugh. _Typical_.

It takes the girl a good two minutes to return to the apartment with the sleepy university student in tow. And it's an amusing sight to see him being dragged by a child who was practically half his height.

“Oh, so you're the famous _Mr. Yoo_ ,” Changkyun greets Kihyun and the teacher smiles at him, “I'm Lim Changkyun, Yeoreum's ex-fiancé. She broke up with me because she met you and fell in love.”

“ _Oppa_!” Yeoreum whines and Kihyun laughs loudly, full bodied and shaking.

It's adorable.

It's also the largest family dinner they've ever had, and when Kihyun picks up side dishes and puts them in both Yeoreum and Changkyun's plates, Hoseok feels his heart warming.

He can't help but think that Kihyun fits right in.

 

 

 

This time, when Hoseok offers to give Kihyun a ride home, the teacher accepts. Changkyun willingly watches Yeoreum while they're gone with the comment that Hoseok fed him, so he needed to somehow return the favour. But, Hoseok knows as a fact that Changkyun has ulterior motives that benefit him in no ways.

They're sitting in the parking lot outside Kihyun's apartment and they're talking quietly, because they're right beside one another and there was no reason to raise their voices above calm speaking tone.

“Thanks for the meal,” Kihyun is saying and Hoseok chuckles.

“Thank Yeoreum,” he teases and Kihyun smiles.

“I have plenty to thank Yeoreum for,” he says, “One of those things is meeting you.”

Hoseok feels his heart speeding up a little in his chest and his eyes move to meet with Kihyun's. The brunette is looking at him with soft eyes and Hoseok finds himself holding his breath.

“I'm really glad I met you, Kihyun,” Hoseok says.

He really does mean it when he says it, because it makes him think about everything before Kihyun and then everything now. It's a subliminal difference and Hoseok told Yeoreum that he didn't need to find someone else, but when he looks at Kihyun, he kind of thinks that there's really no band-aid that can heal him the way Kihyun does.

When he turns his head, his heart is pounding in his chest and he feels this rush as if he’s treading on the waters of something absolutely chaotic. He shuts off the engine of the car. Kihyun tilts his head in slight confusion. It’s terribly endearing in Hoseok’s eyes and he kind of wants to reach over to the younger man and pull him snugly into his arms. He belatedly realizes, amidst the waves of danger in his chest that maybe Kihyun is _exactly_ what he needs.

Throwing caution to the wind, Hoseok just barely sees the movement of Kihyun's lips as he's about to ask something, before he's tugging the younger man over to him and whispering, “I just hope I'm not reading the signs wrong.”

And then his lips are pressed against Kihyun's plush tiers, that familiar warmth exploding in his chest in what feels like fireworks. He can feel Kihyun's surprise before he's kissing him back, slowly and his hands move to slide into Hoseok's hair, grasping into the platinum locks like they ground him.

It feels like seconds, because it’s never enough, but it's been at least ten minutes of gently coaxing Kihyun's mouth open and sliding his tongue between soft lips, tasting a distinctive sweetness that only Kihyun has, before they pull away from one another, breathless. Hoseok feels like he’s flying.

Kihyun's eyes are glazed over and he looks up at Hoseok, whispering softly, “I told you not to get my hopes up.”

Hoseok captures his lips in another quick kiss, “I'm getting your hopes up, but I'm not going to let you down.”

“I can live with that.” Kihyun’s smile is dazzling and Hoseok instinctively leans forward. Kihyun melts into the kiss again and Hoseok feels like everything's coming together perfectly.

Kihyun ruins the mood, when he pulls away and his lips are barely a few centimeters away from Hoseok's and he whispers, “How are we going to tell Yeoreum?”

He vaguely remembers his daughter's declaration of her intent to marry Kihyun and he buries his face into the younger man's neck. “Aw, fuck.” Hoseok swears and Kihyun laughs.

_“No bad words, Hoseok.”_

 

 

 

Hoseok actually can't summon the courage to tell his daughter that she now can't intend to marry Kihyun, because if everything goes well and lovely then Hoseok would probably be marrying Kihyun. And Yeoreum can't get married to Kihyun if Hoseok kind of really wants to marry Kihyun. It's a conflict of interest that he can't bring himself to mention to his seven year old.

But, he takes advantage of every day that he picks his daughter up from school to blatantly flirt with his boyfriend. He presses a quick kiss to Kihyun's lips when no one's looking and whispers a soft _‘hey, I missed you’_ before Kihyun weakly hits his chest and laughs, telling him that he's gross.

“Have you told her?” Kihyun asks, lightly as they watch Yeoreum run around on the playground with a cute little boy.

Hoseok clears his throat instead of answering and Kihyun sighs at him, “Hoseok...”

“Babe, I can't do it,” Hoseok whines, “It'll break her heart.”

Kihyun rolls his eyes in good nature, “I've never seen a twenty-nine year old man whine the way you do.”

Hoseok wraps his arms around the younger man's waist because he knows that no one is paying attention to them and he pouts, “But, I'm cute. You said so yourself.”

For a second, he thinks that Kihyun is actually annoyed at him, but when does Kihyun ever get annoyed at him? He has this tiny soft spot for Hoseok that can probably fall right in with his softness for children.

“When did I ever say that?” Kihyun teases, arching an eyebrow at Hoseok. He makes another indignant whining sound in Kihyun’s ear and the younger man breaks, “Fine, fine, stop that, you’re cute.”

He does it almost every single day——pick Yeoreum up and sneak a quick kiss to Kihyun’s lips before running away with his daughter when Kihyun asks him about Yeoreum, because he chickens out in telling her every time he tries to. She’s a child and she doesn’t actually mean it when she says she wants to marry Kihyun. But in the same sense, she’s a child and _of course_ she really does want to marry Kihyun.

The thing where Kihyun comes over for dinner and Changkyun pays them a quick visit becomes a common thing and they’re like a real family. Yeoreum points it out to him, when she’s sitting in Changkyun’s lap and eating a cupcake and Kihyun is somewhere in the kitchen, washing the dishes because if there’s one thing that doesn’t change, it’s Kihyun refusing to let Hoseok wash the dishes.

“Daddy, Mr. Yoo is like a part of our family now,” she says, frosting sticking to her nose and Hoseok wipes it off with a laugh.

“A part of our family?” he repeats.

“You, me, Changkyun oppa and Mr. Yoo! We’re like a big happy family,” she says, nodding ecstatically. “It used to just be me and you, but then we met Changkyun oppa and he joined our family,” Hoseok has to snort at that (and Changkyun gives him a dirty look), “And then we met Mr. Yoo and we’re an even happier family! I love our family a lot!”

“Mr. Yoo isn’t quite a part of our family——” Hoseok says and Yeoreum narrows her eyes at him, pouting.

“Don’t say that, daddy. You’ll hurt his feelings! Don’t you love Mr. Yoo, too?” she frowns.

From the corner of his eye, he can see that Kihyun’s joined them in the living room, leaning against the doorframe with his arms crossed over his chest, and he has an arched eyebrow as if he’s waiting for Hoseok to say something. He also looks entirely too amused and the blond inhales and pretends that he doesn’t see it.

“Ah...” Hoseok starts.

Kihyun rolls his eyes and wipes his hands dry on the towel in his hands before he walks over to them.

“Yeoreum, sweetheart,” Kihyun says, bending down to her height (or at least her height while she was seated in Changkyun’s lap), “Your father and I have something to tell you.”

That’s Hoseok’s cue to panic a little, but he manages to keep his expression calm and nod along with his boyfriend——because he’s not really sure how he’s supposed to reveal to his seven year old daughter that he’s dating her kindergarten teacher. That’s a process he’s pretty sure only happens once in your life, if at all.

“What is it?” Yeoreum blinks curiously and she tilts her head a little (Hoseok thinks that she picked that up from Kihyun, after spending endless hours with him at school).

“Your daddy and I are boyfriends,” Kihyun tells her, and Yeoreum stares at him——obviously having no idea what it means. Hoseok takes this as his cue to start talking and he takes one of his daughter’s hands into his own. They kind of ignore Changkyun’s presence because the look on his face is smug, and he already knows what they’re about to say.

“It means that we like each other a lot,” Hoseok says, “Do you remember when you told me and made me promise that if I feel lonely and sad that it’s okay if I find you a new mommy?” he asks and he can hear Kihyun biting back a laugh, “Well, your Mr. Yoo makes me very happy and makes me feel less lonely.”

Yeoreum nods, and Hoseok knows she understands——to whatever degree a child can, at least, before she holds out her hands in two thumbs-up, “Good.”

She turns her head to Kihyun and purses her lips, looking as intimidating as a seven year old can, “How much do you like daddy, Mr. Yoo?”

Kihyun chuckles softly and makes this dramatic spread of his arms, as wide as he can, “More than this much.”

“Okay, good,” she nods and smiles.

Hoseok feels that warmth in his chest again. It’s the feeling of everything coming together for sure; it’s that feeling that from here on out, everything is going to be okay. It’s everything opposite from what he felt when his wife decided to up and leave him and their child——when he felt like life was crashing and burning in front of them.

It’s the confirmation to him that falling in love with Kihyun works exactly like a band-aid—— _it makes everything better._

Hoseok clears this throat and inhales softly, “And that means that daddy might want to marry your Mr. Yoo, someday,” he says, wistfully and Kihyun’s eyes shine fondly when he looks at him.

“That’s okay, daddy,” Yeoreum tells him, eyes shining, “I’ll just marry Changkyun oppa, again.”

Changkyun’s expression looks like he’s been shot, because he’s a second choice. They all laugh about it, and Yeoreum blinks as if she doesn’t know what she’s done to have everyone laughing. But, she joins them in laughter, because if there’s something she knows for sure: _you laugh when you’re happy._

And they’re happy.

**Author's Note:**

> lesson of the fic: band-aids fix everything and so does kihyun. 
> 
> promotes my [twitter](http://twitter.com/yuseokki/) again, because i legitimately intend on getting the kiho tag here above 100 entries, but i definitely cannot actually think up that many prompts for works alone. 
> 
> (and to those of you who think i'm just trying to look like a good person before i smash my own heart out writing the _hurt kihyun_ fic, then you're absolutely correct)


End file.
